1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing, and more specifically, to preparing data for information retrieval by transforming data structures and data objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
A smart device is an electronic communications device capable of performing operations independently or interactively with other devices. Smart devices have independent processing capability and connect to wireless networks using various protocols such as Bluetooth, allowing them to operate interactively and autonomously. Manufacturers continuously update smart devices and their protocols to allow faster communications and more complex processing. Many smart devices known in the art boot up rapidly and provide quick connectivity using their respective protocols.
The Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) is a government open source software project with the objective of providing troops with geo-specific information during operations using “smart devices” such as smart phones and tablets.
ATAK currently utilizes the Android operating system and associated protocols in conjunction with commercially available smart devices such as Android phones and tablet. The Android operating system and other smart phone operating systems offer GPS capability, and the ability to interact with object-oriented programming tools and data management programs known in the art such as Java and SQL.
The military currently utilizes the GPS capability of the Android operating system for intelligence gathering and during military operations to collect location-specific data. For example, military observers can identify items that appear in the images such as schools or hospitals to avoid damaging them during an operation, designate pickup points for evacuation, or note the presence of weapons and hostile persons. The ability to provide annotated visual data in real time reduces military dependence on voice channels, and can graphically designate points of interest more accurately.
ATAK enables the collection of large amounts of data and collection of countless on-site observations. ATAK integrates capabilities for gathering image and other data from individual observers and for associating data collected from each user. ATAK also allows collaborative mapping and sharing of drawings created by each user, as well as features that facilitate real time intelligence gathering including file sharing, photo sharing, video sharing, data streaming and interfaces for military communications systems. ATAK also includes Java programming capabilities and the development of applications to customize the operating system.
Despite the integration of these sophisticated tools, ATAK has several known limitations that prevent the use of ATAK for rapid analytics using data gathered during battle. A major limitation is that data from multiple observers appears in heterogeneous (non-standard) formats, since each user has an individualized approach to gathering data. This requires subjective interpretation and human correlation of data obtained from each user. In some instances, a third party receiving data may need to correlate and create reports from multiple observers through intensive, time-consuming review.
Additionally, since observers do not gather data in a structured manner, many of their observations may be irrelevant or incomplete. Gathering irrelevant data adds time to the process during critical missions.
Currently, despite the near real-time communications capability of smart devices and the broad functionality of ATAK, it is not possible to retrieve, cross-reference and validate intelligence data gathered from multiple observers in real time during military operations.